Hands up everyone who misses screwing in tiny fragile incandescent lightbulbs while hanging off a ladder in sub zero temperatures. Or busily hunting for which dead bulb is causing the entire string of 100 lights to short out. What, no one?
The reason we no longer have these tasks on our busy holiday plates is that 10 years ago a ban on importing incandescent lightbulbs came into effect across Canada. That led to the rapid development of LED alternatives that are vastly more energy efficient, much longer lasting and a whole lot less trouble to deal with (not to mention, also not being a fire hazard).
Still, the ban brought with it the usual teeth gnashing about costs and “not ready” alternatives (and plenty of delays), all of which was quickly overshadowed by the blinding speed of LED development and the technology’s ever-growing array of vastly superior products.
Today, we see much of the same story around solar and wind. The same wails from certain vested interests about the technology not being ready, or how we will struggle to keep the lights on if we commit to a new way of doing things.
And just like with LEDs, it will eventually become blindingly obvious that these cries of fake distress are simply noise. Indeed, smart, green technologies are far superior to what we are using now and come with numerous additional benefits, like cleaner air, lower costs, and less climate damage.
That’s the story we are trying hard to tell here at the Ontario Clean Air Alliance, but we need your help to shine a light on the superiority of these green energy solutions. Too few people understand just how far solar and wind technology has come in the last 10 years, or that these are now the lowest cost solutions for meeting our growing electricity needs. We need your help to make that story shine.
There’s a saying that change happens slowly and then suddenly. As momentum builds and the right conditions emerge, we can see a sudden shift in a different direction, like the rise of LED lighting everywhere.
But the ever-faster pace of change in today’s world can also be unsettling, which is why we need clear information about when change makes sense (renewables, efficiency) and when it doesn’t (so called small nuclear reactors). That’s where trusted organizations like the Ontario Clean Air Alliance are invaluable in throwing a spotlight on things we should be supporting (heat pumps, EV bidirectional charging) and things we need to move away from (polluting gas plants). Your support helps us do that.
Give the green transition a much needed push by donating to OCAA today.
Thank you! And blessings of the season to you and yours from all of us at OCAA.